The present invention concerns a fiber feed element of a rotor spinning machine the lower bearing surface of which is disposed above an opening cylinder for processing the initial fiber material and the support surface of which, on its upper side, can support a pivotably borne fiber channel plate and having a fiber guide channel fashioned in the fiber feed element which extends from the bearing surface up to the support surface.
A fiber feed element of this kind has e.g. become known in the art through the brochure "Replacement Parts for Textile Machines" from the company Legrom published in 1997.
This fiber feed element is installed into a so-called spin box of a rotor spinning machine. The processing of the initial fiber material into completed yarn takes place in the spin box, i.e. the actual spinning process. In addition to the fiber feed element upon which the invention is based, other components are also accommodated within the spin box. Rotation of an opening cylinder reduces the size of the initial fiber material and introduces it into a fiber guide channel of the fiber feed element. The fiber guide channel maps into a fiber channel plate so that the processed initial fiber material is passed to a withdrawal nozzle and a yarn withdrawal tube. During spinning, a rotor housing closes off the fiber channel plate. The withdrawal nozzle is positioned towards and aligned with a rotor which accepts the yarn.
The conventional fiber feed element is made from a metal blank. The metal blank must subsequently be coated to give the fiber guide channel fashioned in the metal blank a good quality surface facilitating low-friction transport of the fiber material. Additional post-processing of the surface by polishing or other treatment processes is, however, normally required.
A sealing ring must be glued in the vicinity of the transition between the fiber guide channel of the fiber feed element and the fiber channel plate. The pivoting support of the fiber channel plate on the fiber feed element is effected via a separate fiber feed element, namely a runner, disposed on the fiber feed element. The conventional fiber feed element therefore has a plurality of components.
It is therefore the underlying technical problem associated with the invention to simplify the construction and manufacture of the fiber feed element.